“Half a million,” Andy said. “I’m guessing he has a paid for house too.”
“Right outside of town,” Garreth answered.
“Let me see that,” I said, grabbing the phone. Running through the picture, I saw photos of this man, a man who allegedly wanted the Ring of Solomon. I saw his wife. I saw his house. I saw his children; a boy with rounded cheeks and a younger girl who looked familiar. It took seconds for me to realize where I knew her from.
“Goddamn,” I muttered. Tossing the phone to Andy, I said, “That’s her. That’s the girl who died in my office.”
“Seriously?” Andy said, looking up at me. “That means all of this was-”
A loud boom sounded through the room, and a shock of energy threw me forward. I shook like I had been electrocuted and slammed hard against the table, breaking it in half.
The others had been pushed back as well, and they were scattered across the room.
Looking back, I saw the kitchen door was a pile of splinters on the floor. A boy stood there, his body glowing with bright blue energy and his eyes peering angrily at me.
“That’s the other one, right?” I asked, motioning to Andy. “That’s the guy’s son.”
“Yeah,” Andy said, obviously in pain. “It’s a fucking family affair.”
“You!” the boy said. “You must die!”
“Yeah, yeah,” I said, hopping back up to face him and grabbing the blade in my back pocket. “Let’s see how that goes.”
24
So here I was. For the second time in as many weeks, one of the offspring of a man named Eric Woodman wanted to kill me. This was notable for a number of reasons, the least of which being that I couldn’t be killed. You’d think a man who knew enough about the occult world to know what the Ring of Solomon was would also have heard about my curse and the fact that I was staying in Savannah. Maybe if the kid saw my mark, it would help explain things. Judging by the look on his face and the way he was surrounded by crackling blue energy told me he probably wasn’t going to wait while I went and got a lighter.
I’d have to try and talk some sense into him. Hopefully, that would turn out better for him than it did for his sister.
“What’s the kid’s name, Andy?” I asked, my gaze trained on him. He was a young thing, still growing into his features. If his father was using him like this, then he deserved to be sent to the lowest pits of hell. Maybe they’d find my mother there. They could talk about the ins and outs of crappy parenting over eternal damnation.
“Daniel Woodman,” Andy answered, obviously scrolling through the Facebook page to garner his information.
“Danny,” I said slowly, inching toward him. “We need to talk, my man. This doesn’t have to go down like this.” I still had the blade in my hand. I couldn’t be killed. That much was true, but everyone walking the earth who still meant anything to me was in either this room or the next. I couldn’t take any chances on this boy hurting them.
“There’s nothing to talk about,” he answered, and tears were already pouring down his reddened, full cheeks.
He didn’t want to do this. He was either being forced or coerced. That made this so much worse.
“You killed my sister!” he growled, the same energy that circled (and eventually killed) his sister circling around him. I had to wonder if he was going to suffer the same fate.
Not if I could help it.
“I didn’t do that, Danny,” I said slowly. “That was an act I had no control over. Did your father send her to me? Did he send you?”
“Are you insinuating that my father did that to her?!” he screamed through more pain, through more tears. “She was burned alive! She was eaten up! She was all gone after she was done with you, and now I have to do it too.”
His voice broke at the end. He was shaking.
“You have to do what, Danny?” I asked panic rising in me. “I don’t know what your father told you, but you don’t have to die for this. Your sister didn’t have to die either. Just let me help you. Just calm down, and I can make this right. I swear it.”
He shook his head, power-popping around him. The others were up now, standing behind me like some sort of makeshift army. I didn’t want that. I wanted them to run. I wanted them to get to safety. I’d take care of this…if I could.
“You don’t get it,” he said. “It’s too late. He told me it was over, that’s it’s been over all along. If I don’t do this, then he’ll die. He’ll kill him.”
My eyes narrowed. “Who’ll die, Danny? Who are you trying to save?”
“Stop that!” Danny screamed. His hands raised quickly, and a wave of energy flew from his hands. I flinched, but it moved right past me, slamming into Garreth, who himself was powering up, probably in an attempt to subdue the poor kid.
Garreth slammed into the wall, sliding to the kitchen floor.
“Make sure he’s okay. Then run out the back, pretend you’re bolting on us, and circle around. If you hear me say the words ‘I’ve been there’ burst through the door and take him out,” I whispered in a voice so low that only werewolf could have picked it up.
Clint’s jaw tightened in response. I turned back to Danny.
“Did he think I wouldn’t feel his energy?” Danny asked, still crying. “I’m good at this! I’ve trained!” He shook his head. “I didn’t want to hurt him. I swear, but I couldn’t let him stop me. I couldn’t-”
“I’m done with this shit!’ Clint chimed from behind me, and I heard the back door open.
Danny flinched, about to respond magically, but I stopped him.
“He’s just a dog, Danny. He’s not worth it.”
This seemed to calm him. He turned back to me, blinking away the moisture.
“I understand what you’re doing, you know,” I answered. “I know you probably don’t want to hear this from me, but I totally get it.”
“You couldn’t possibly,” he answered angrily. “My sister is dead. She’s gone, and she’s never coming back.”
“Kid, if you knew who I was, you’d know how silly that statement is,” I said. “I know how it feels to lose a sibling, to lose one of the people who mean the most to you in the entire world. And I know that feeling you get, the one that tells you that you have to make it right.”
“This isn’t about revenge!” he answered quickly. “This is necessity. This is about protecting what I have left.”
I nodded, figuring Clint had been given enough time to circle around and get back up to the door. My only chance at keeping this kid safe was to knock him the hell out. If Clint could get a running start, that might be doable.
“I get that too,” I answered, swallowing hard. “I know what it is to protect someone. I’ve been there.”
The door to Merry’s place swung open. Clint, all wolfed up, galloped through, jumping up as he neared the kid.
Danny sensed him though. The kid was right. He was good. He turned quickly, a blast of energy shooting from his hands. It collided with Clint, burning a hole through his gut and forcing him flat to the floor.
“No!” I screamed and started toward my fallen wolf friend.
“Enough!” Danny shrieked and threw his hand out. It stopped me where I stood. “Why won’t you people stop?! I don’t want to hurt you. I just-” He took a deep breath, and his face darkened. “This has to end now.”
Andy and Merry rushed to my side, but I motioned for them to get back.
“Don’t do this, kid,” I said. “There’s another way.”
“There’s not,” he answered, crying again. “I wish there was.” His mouth twisted downward. “I hope heaven is real.”
He clapped his hands together, sending a bolt of energy through me.
I screamed in agony as the magic tore through me, incinerating much of my body.
I fell to the floor, looking up at the boy.
He was still crying. “Do you think it’s real?” he asked, and then his body lit up in flames seven times as large as what I’d just exper
ienced.
Merry was over me, grabbing my hand and squeezing it tightly.
When the fire subsided, and the boy’s burned carcass fell to the floor, words were on his forehead as well.
I was too far away though, and my eyes were bleary with pain.
“What is that?” I asked Merry. “What does it say?”
She sighed as heavy and heartbroken a sigh as I had ever heard. “It says ‘One To Go’.”
25
“You shouldn’t be moving around,” Merry said, staring at me with a grumpily sleepy Amber in her arms. After the events that just unfolded in her kitchen, the woman didn’t want her daughter any further than arm’s reach, and I didn’t blame her. That concern was reaching out to me as well now though and, while it felt good to have her worry about me, I didn’t have the luxury to lean into it.
“I’m fine,” I said definitively. It was true. After the straight up ass whooping that kid served us before forcing my curse to end him, Garreth healed Clint and myself, leaving both of us all stitched up and basically brand new. “Besides, there’s no time to be sedentary,” I added. “You saw the warning burned onto that kid’s forehead. Someone else is dying. We need to move fast, and more than that, we need to move smart.”
The entire group was in the living room now, having migrated from the disaster area of a kitchen and circled around the couch. It had the added benefit of bringing Aria back into the fold. She might have been pissed off about things. She certainly seemed that way as she glared at the rest of us with disgust plain on her face. Still, she had a part to play in all of this, and she needed to hear it.
“Smart sounds like a good idea,” Andy said, crossing his arms over his chest. “I think the first thing we need to do case out the Woodman house. If we can figure out exactly what sort of craziness he has at play, then we can-”
“No,” I said flatly.
“Excuse me?” Andy asked, turning to me.
“I wasn’t looking for suggestions Andy,” I answered. “I have a plan, and I’m afraid it’s not open for debate.”
“Care to illuminate?” my nephew asked, eyeing Garreth wearily as though my exclamation was because of him for some reason.
“I want all of you to leave,” I said flatly, staring at them unblinkingly.
“You’ve got to be joking,” Merry sighed, shaking her head. “Didn’t you learn with the Lunar Coven that we’re not running off on you. We’re here for the long haul. Are we really going to do this again? “
“No, we are not,” I said, my tone intense. “Last time, I was stupid enough to think what you wanted mattered, and it almost got all of you killed. It did get my granddaughter killed.” I shook my head. “I won’t make that mistake again. Garreth, Aria and I are going to be going to the Woodman farm on our own.”
“So just you and POWs?” Aria asked, her mouth turned down distastefully.
“Are you insane?” Andy asked, standing up in a huff. “After all we’ve been through together, you’re just going to send us out to pasture? You can’t trust those two!” he said, his attention very intentionally turned to Garreth.
My son didn’t seem to mind.
“I don’t have to trust them,” I answered. “I have the spell.”
“A spell this Solomon bastard concocted himself!” Andy shouted. “How can you even be sure he didn’t mess with it? He could be leading you into a trap.”
Garreth scoffed.
“He’s not leading me into a trap,” I answered.
“But how do you know that?” Andy asked.
‘Because he’s my son!” I answered loudly. “Garreth is the person who helped me hide this in the first place. If the Ring is found, it’s on me and him and nobody else.”
“Apparently it’s on me too,” Aria groaned, rolling her eyes.
“You’re the muscle,” I said, nodding firmly.
“And what about me?” Clint asked, looking up at me. “I’m muscle too, right?”
I sighed loudly, tapping my foot against the carpet. “You almost died, Clint.”
“What else is new?” he barked. “I can help. I want to help.”
“Listen,” I said, my tone shifting back to all business. “I have no idea what this guy has up his sleeve. I’m going in there completely blind, which means I need everyone in there to move like a well-oiled machine. I need all of us to move as though we have one brain…as though we have my brain. Thanks to the spell Garreth employed that can happen with the three of us.” I shook my head. “I’m sorry Clint, but you’d just be in the way.”
“You’ve got a lot of nerve,” he answered. “I just had a hole blown in my chest for your ingrate, immortal ass.” He looked over at Garreth. “I guess you were right after all., I am peripheral.”
He turned and pushed his way out of the apartment, growling as he left.
“Why are you acting like this?” Merry said, clutching onto Amber and rocking her back and forth. “This isn’t you.”
“Sweetheart, you’re very important to me, but you’ve known me for all of three minutes, all things considered,” I said. “This is what I need to do. This is who I need to be. I tried it the other way. I tried having friends, having a family, and this is where it got me. Kids are dying, falling dead at my feet. It’s going to happen one more time before the end of this. We know that for sure. I’ll be damned if the kid who pays that price next is your daughter.”
“Let me worry about my daughter,” she said, blinking obvious hurt out of her eyes.
“I figured you would,” I answered as coldly as I needed to in order to get what I needed done. “But apparently I’m wrong about that. Why else would you be so willing to throw yourself in harm’s way? She needs you, Merry. I don’t.”
“I can’t believe what I’m hearing,” she balked. “You told me the gypsies are after her. You said they want to make her their queen. Where the hell are we supposed to go? If you don’t protect us-”
“There’s a warlock in Atlanta,” I answered. “Well, half of him is warlock. I programmed his address into your navigation system. Go to him. He owes me a favor. He’ll keep you safe until this all blows over.”
“And what if it doesn’t blow over?” she asked.
“Then I guess he’ll be keeping you safe for a long time,” I replied. “Haircut will go with you.”
“I will?” he asked, standing himself.
“You will,” I replied. “I know you don’t understand your abilities yet, and I wish there was time for me to explain it to you. All you need to know for now is that—so long as you stay close to them—nothing bad will happen to Merry and Amber.”
“I don’t know.” Merry shrugged. “He’s pretty close to us right now, and this sucks a lot.” She marched past me, not bothering to look as she made her way toward the door. She hated me right now, and that hurt more than I could really put into words. But it was necessary hurt. She had to get that girl away from here. She had to keep her safe. She had to keep herself safe.
“I’ll be outside,” she murmured. Haircut followed quickly, looking back at the rest of us and, for once, not smiling.
“I’m not sure what to say,” Andy said, looking at the door and then back to me.
“Say goodbye,” I answered.
“Uncle C. I swear, if you-”
“You died,” I said flatly.
“What?” he answered, swallowing hard.
“In gypsy country, right before we left. A werewolf clawed your throat out and left you dead on the ground. I called Gabriel. He gave you back to me in exchange for something else.”
“Amber,” he surmised, his eyes rounding out. “You said the angel gave you what you needed to heal her. That was part of the deal for bringing me back. Wasn’t it? What you saw when you touched that girl-”
“It wasn’t because of you,” I answered. “Don’t blame yourself.”
“Oh, I wasn’t going to,” he shot back. “I didn’t ask you to pull me out of the grave, Uncle C. I’m a grown ass ma
n. I know the dangers in everything I do. I’m a cop, for Christ’s sake. If you set all this shit with Amber in motion because you took it upon yourself to screw with the order of my life, then everything that happens from this point on is on you.”
“As it should be,” I muttered. “Go see your daughters.”
“Don’t tell me what to do,” he answered angrily. Moving toward the door, he sneered. “I know it’s in your nature, but try not to screw the world up again if you can get around it.”
He slammed the door shut, leaving me with Garreth and Aria. My plan was starting to come together.
“Come on,” I said, running a hand through my flame kissed hair. “We have a world to save.”
26
“This is it?” Aria asked as we idled in my car across the street from a farm which sat about half an hour out of the city. It was a decidedly ordinary-looking location. A two story white farmhouse sat off the road, trimmed in faded blue shudders and nearly completely encompassed with rows and rows of crops. A worn out red Chevy with rust spots and a trash bag taped over the spot where the passenger side window should be was pulled up nearly to the front door, and an aged barn with flaking red paint and a dark green shingle roof missing a few tiles was situated beside adjacently to the left.
I used to live in a place like this. Back at the turn of the 20th century, when the world was still big enough to start over a scant thirty miles from where you used to live, I disappeared from a life I’d built as a shoemaker in Jamestown, Virginia. When the fact that I wasn’t aging became painfully obvious to all those around me, I had to switch things up.
Curse of Cain (Immortal Mercenary Book 2) Page 14